Westfield heads south of the river to Croydon

Westfield is planning to open a huge 1.5million sqft shopping centre in Croydon that would be the biggest in south London.

The Australian-owned developer said it was looking at "the potential for a major retail scheme" to regenerate run-down Croydon, which was badly scarred in the summer riots.

The move comes just two months after the opening of the £1.45billion Stratford City centre near the Olympic Park and will be Westfield's third London mall.

The announcement was welcomed by Mayor Boris Johnson, who said: "Westfield is already defying the economic downturn in east and west, and I am delighted they are now looking south. Croydon has huge potential."

The project is likely to take at least five years and would form part of the Croydon 2020 regeneration programme. It would involve the modernisation and expansion of the 40-year-old Whitgift shopping centre rather than a completely new building.

The planned centre is provisionally named Westfield Croydon and would aim to draw the same mix of cutting edge retailers and big name brands that has proved a successful formula at Westfield London, in Shepherd's Bush, and Stratford City.

Michael Gutman, Westfield's managing director Europe and new markets, said: "We believe the ingredients are there for another major successful scheme."